I have a month-long gig copy editing for a magazine, and it's pretty much full time. I have to drive in to the office and get there early in the morning and stay until the late afternoon. It's hard! It's been a long time since I've had a schedule like this. The work is fine, but it is hard to do everything I have to do at home in a third of the time. I am not that efficient. Or that energetic. I'm tired!
So I probably won't have that many blog posts over the next month, but I'll try to keep up with it. I hope I can!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Harry Effing Potter
We let Ellie watch the first Harry Potter awhile ago and she LOVED it. I knew the movies got scarier as they went along, so I told her she had to wait until she was older to see more. A few months ago, we let her watch the second one and she also LOVED it. We watched it with her and told her to tell us if she got scared and we would turn it off. She was never scared. Not even a little. This weekend is a four-day weekend, so we borrowed a few more Harry Potters to give them a try during our copious free time. I reminded Ellie that some of them are scary and she should let us know if a movie gets too scary and we will turn it off.
She'd seen 1 and 2, so we sat down to watch 3 together. Lots of running around. Lots of talking and exposition. Fantastical creatures. Ellie loved it and wasn't scared at all. The next day, we put on what we thought was 4 but turned out was number 5. More running around, more fantastical creatures, a somewhat scary Voldemort. I checked in with Ellie. She said "I'm not scared at all. I just want to see what's going to happen next!"
After number 5, we put in number 4. I had some work to do, so I went upstairs to finish some stuff and left Ellie to watch the movie. We had watched number 5 together and number 4 couldn't possibly be scarier than number 5, could it??? He's YOUNGER in number 4. Yeah. Turns out, number 4 is way scarier than the rest of the movies. Greg said he sat down later in the day while we were out and watched a bit while he ate lunch. He said it was super scary.
Ellie waits until bedtime to inform me that number 4 actually did scare her quite a bit and now she's scared to go to bed by herself and she's scared of Lord Voldemort, who she insists looks different in movies 4 and 5 than in 1, 2, and 3. I feel like the dumbest mom ever. Of course Harry Potter is too scary for her. Of course she's too young to watch them. I should at least have watched all the movies with her. I'm also pissed at the movie franchise for making an earlier movie scarier than a later movie so idiot moms like me will think we have it covered after watching the later movie and we don't have to watch the earlier movie.
I am just praying that Ellie's strong constitution will pull her through. I know if it were me, I would be a mess. I'd definitely have bad dreams. I would see Lord Voldemort ducking behind my clothes in the closet. I would feel his nails scratching at my feet from under the bed. I would see him staring at me through the bushes as I rode the bus to school. But I was a pretty sensitive kid. I hope and pray that she is not as sensitive. She certainly hasn't been so far.
She'd seen 1 and 2, so we sat down to watch 3 together. Lots of running around. Lots of talking and exposition. Fantastical creatures. Ellie loved it and wasn't scared at all. The next day, we put on what we thought was 4 but turned out was number 5. More running around, more fantastical creatures, a somewhat scary Voldemort. I checked in with Ellie. She said "I'm not scared at all. I just want to see what's going to happen next!"
After number 5, we put in number 4. I had some work to do, so I went upstairs to finish some stuff and left Ellie to watch the movie. We had watched number 5 together and number 4 couldn't possibly be scarier than number 5, could it??? He's YOUNGER in number 4. Yeah. Turns out, number 4 is way scarier than the rest of the movies. Greg said he sat down later in the day while we were out and watched a bit while he ate lunch. He said it was super scary.
Ellie waits until bedtime to inform me that number 4 actually did scare her quite a bit and now she's scared to go to bed by herself and she's scared of Lord Voldemort, who she insists looks different in movies 4 and 5 than in 1, 2, and 3. I feel like the dumbest mom ever. Of course Harry Potter is too scary for her. Of course she's too young to watch them. I should at least have watched all the movies with her. I'm also pissed at the movie franchise for making an earlier movie scarier than a later movie so idiot moms like me will think we have it covered after watching the later movie and we don't have to watch the earlier movie.
I am just praying that Ellie's strong constitution will pull her through. I know if it were me, I would be a mess. I'd definitely have bad dreams. I would see Lord Voldemort ducking behind my clothes in the closet. I would feel his nails scratching at my feet from under the bed. I would see him staring at me through the bushes as I rode the bus to school. But I was a pretty sensitive kid. I hope and pray that she is not as sensitive. She certainly hasn't been so far.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The poopy menagerie
We're taking care of Abby the Dog this week, and we were somewhat concerned about how that would work with Sophie the Cat. My original plan was to keep them separated the whole time Abby was here. That meant shutting Sophie into our bedroom with her food and litter.
We did that for a day and then we decided to keep the door open and see what happens. Well, they saw each other and they both froze in their tracks and waited each other out and eventually Abby walked slowly up to Sophie and tried to sniff her. Sophie hissed and pushed her ears back, but she didn't swat at Abby or try to bite her. We pulled Abby back and Sophie ran under the bed.
And that's about where it's been the whole week (so far). We don't separate them and they both roam around the house, but when they get too close, Sophie hisses and runs away. Not bad. We still have Abby sleep in Ellie's room and Sophie sleep in our room at night, and that seems to work well. Ellie has been a great pet owner. She feeds Abby and Sophie in the morning and takes Abby out for walks. The last couple of nights, she's wanted to sleep with Sophie because she feels bad that Sophie doesn't get as much attention now that Abby is here. She is such an animal lover.
I've enjoyed having another pet as well. Maybe we should get a dog after all... and another cat. And maybe a bird. (I'm totally kidding about the bird. I was going to get a bird once, but then I came up with a better idea. I decided to hang an empty cage from the ceiling, cover it with crap, and attach an alarm that emits loud, piercing squeals at random intervals throughout the day and night. It's exactly like having a bird and you don't have to feed it or feel guilty for slicing its head off with a paring knife at 3 o' clock in the morning after listening to six hours of screeching. Hmmm. This aside seems to have gotten away from me.)
ANYWAY. It's been great having another animal around. We will be sad to say goodbye to Abby, but Sophie will be happy to have the whole house to herself again.
We did that for a day and then we decided to keep the door open and see what happens. Well, they saw each other and they both froze in their tracks and waited each other out and eventually Abby walked slowly up to Sophie and tried to sniff her. Sophie hissed and pushed her ears back, but she didn't swat at Abby or try to bite her. We pulled Abby back and Sophie ran under the bed.
And that's about where it's been the whole week (so far). We don't separate them and they both roam around the house, but when they get too close, Sophie hisses and runs away. Not bad. We still have Abby sleep in Ellie's room and Sophie sleep in our room at night, and that seems to work well. Ellie has been a great pet owner. She feeds Abby and Sophie in the morning and takes Abby out for walks. The last couple of nights, she's wanted to sleep with Sophie because she feels bad that Sophie doesn't get as much attention now that Abby is here. She is such an animal lover.
I've enjoyed having another pet as well. Maybe we should get a dog after all... and another cat. And maybe a bird. (I'm totally kidding about the bird. I was going to get a bird once, but then I came up with a better idea. I decided to hang an empty cage from the ceiling, cover it with crap, and attach an alarm that emits loud, piercing squeals at random intervals throughout the day and night. It's exactly like having a bird and you don't have to feed it or feel guilty for slicing its head off with a paring knife at 3 o' clock in the morning after listening to six hours of screeching. Hmmm. This aside seems to have gotten away from me.)
ANYWAY. It's been great having another animal around. We will be sad to say goodbye to Abby, but Sophie will be happy to have the whole house to herself again.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Ellie's weekend
Ellie wrote a journal entry at school about her weekend. Here it is (with all the spelling errors fixed):
My weekend was fun and busy. I went to my cousin's birthday party. We went to Red Lobster. We ate cake that my grandma and aunt made. The frosting was the best part. I cleaned my room. It was a mess. My mom made me clean it. She said now it is livable. I could not walk through my room. I could not fit my books on the bookshelf. How was your weekend?
My weekend was fun and busy. I went to my cousin's birthday party. We went to Red Lobster. We ate cake that my grandma and aunt made. The frosting was the best part. I cleaned my room. It was a mess. My mom made me clean it. She said now it is livable. I could not walk through my room. I could not fit my books on the bookshelf. How was your weekend?
